Tesla seeking workers for ex-Chrysler site in Lathrop, California

Tesla Motors has leased an idled parts-distribution facility near Tracy where it plans to hire engineers and technicians as the maker of luxury electric cars expands operations.

The carmaker led by Elon Musk has been granted building permits to modify a 431,000-square-foot industrial facility in Lathrop said Steve Salvatore, the city's manager, in a phone interview Tuesday. While Shanna Hendriks, a company spokeswoman, declined to discuss details of the project, Tesla's website shows openings for 32 positions at the facility in San Joaquin County.

"They've pulled building permits for building modifications and I believe some sort of manufacturing equipment is being installed," Salvatore said. He declined to provide additional details.

Tesla is hiring for the plant in Lathrop, previously a parts-distribution center used by Chrysler's Mopar unit, as the carmaker assesses sites in four western U.S. states for a battery "gigafactory" to supply its vehicles. Musk has said the plant he envisions, which will also make battery packs to store power from rooftop solar panels, will require as much as $5 billion to build and will eventually employ as many as 6,500 people.

The company has said Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas are all potential locations for its battery plant. Lathrop is about an hour east of both Tesla's headquarters in Palo Alto and its assembly plant in Fremont.

"Tesla is continuing to invest and create jobs in California as part of our ongoing infrastructure expansion," the company said in an emailed statement.

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"In the last two months, we have signed leases for more than 625,000 square feet of Californian real estate, independent of sales and service centers," the carmaker said. "These recent investments reinforce our commitment to California and will help us continue to bring compelling electric vehicles to market at affordable prices."

Tesla's plan to use the Lathrop site was reported earlier by the Manteca Bulletin. The company's shares rose 7 percent to $218.64 at the close in New York, and are up 45 percent this year.